Chapter 192: Suppression and Sealing
Vanessa's perspective had shifted drastically the moment she reached the tunnel
exit.
Benket's squad, which had preceded her out of the hollow carrying the heavy
Golden Throne, hadn't made it past the staging area. They had been intercepted
the second they reached the light.
Vanessa didn't recognize the primary attacker.
But she recognized the person who ended up with the prize.
Shizuku.
Under the shocked gazes of the survivors, the monolithic Golden Throne had
simply vanished into the nozzle of Shizuku's vacuum cleaner.
Benket and Colin stepped forward, their auras flaring with indignation. They had
paid a blood tax to drag that gold out of the dark, and they weren't about to
let it be "cleaned" away.
But blocking their path was a young man with orange hair and a piercing, stoic
expression.
He called himself Yahiko.
Yahiko's presence was oppressive. He moved with a cold, detached efficiency that
made it clear he wasn't interested in talking.
When Shizuku secured the throne from the orange-haired youth, the matter was
closed. Benket's team was no match for Yahiko's raw speed, and even if they
were, they couldn't breach the perimeter held by Kurapika and Shizuku.
Benket was forced to withdraw from the central tunnel sector, his pride wounded
and his pockets empty.
He realized now that he had been double-played. The "Yahiko" character was
likely another of Ronin's associates—or worse, a tool used to keep Ronin's own
reputation "clean" while the team secured the lion's share of the ruins' wealth.
If Ronin had known Benket's thoughts, he would have given the man a thumbs-up.
After all, a name like "Yahiko" was a dead giveaway for anyone from his old
world. It was simply another Shadow Clone he had prepped before entering the
hive. The "Conflict" was a piece of theater to ensure the Mafia didn't
officially mark Ronin as a thief; the blame would fall on a mysterious,
unaffiliated rogue.
Back at the base of the Great Tree, Ronin received the Sealing Scroll Vanessa
had brought.
He didn't waste a heartbeat. He marched toward the trunk.
Kurapika had sourced the scroll from a specialist—likely a Conjurer associated
with Miria. It wasn't a perfect 1:1 match for a Shinobi scroll, but the
structural integrity and aura-conductivity were close enough.
Now, he needed to finalize the Contract.
Ronin's logic was simple: follow the steps Naruto took with the toads. He needed
to sign his name in the scroll, but before that, the scroll needed the "Mark" of
the beast.
He intended for the serpent to provide its blood and a sample of its Nen.
As Ronin approached, the serpent coiled tighter around the branches, baring its
fangs and emitting a low, vibrating hiss of warning.
Ronin didn't slow down. If the beast wouldn't give its consent willingly, he
would take it by force. He had enough Chakra to beat a confession out of a
dragon if necessary.
The serpent realized the boy's intent was final.
Its massive tail whipped through the air, a grey blur that aimed to bisect
Ronin.
BAM!
The high-speed strike was stopped dead.
Ronin's forearm was encased in layers of dense rock.
Earth Style: Rock Fist!
The serpent's tail struck the stone and bounced. Ronin didn't let it retract;
his stone-clad hand reached out and clamped onto the scales.
In a pure contest of Enhancement, it was a battle of numbers.
The serpent's total POP (Potential Output Power) was double Ronin's, but its AOP
(Actual Output Power)—the burst it could generate in a single limb—couldn't
match the concentrated explosion of a high-rank Ninjutsu.
Ronin had the higher burst; the snake had the higher stamina. As long as the
fight was short, Ronin held the numerical advantage.
The serpent was stunned. It had never encountered a human capable of matching
its raw physical torque. It flared its aura, intending to whip Ronin off his
feet and hurl him across the cavern.
Ronin smiled.
Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!
The moment his hand touched the tail, he injected a massive surge of Chakra.
The serpent's tail began to undergo a localized petrification. More importantly,
its weight increased fifty-fold in a millisecond. The limb became a leaden
anchor. The snake tried to lift it, but its muscles groaned under the sudden,
impossible mass. It was pinned to the floor by its own body.
Confusion flickered in the serpent's slitted eyes.
Then came the shock. Ronin's arm muscles bulged as he anchored himself and
pulled.
He was attempting to rip the thirty-meter beast clean out of the tree.
The serpent hissed in fury, its body coiling frantically around the Great Tree's
branches for leverage.
But against Ronin's reinforced strength, its choices were limited. The sheer
force of the yank tore the serpent from its perch, sending it crashing onto the
muddy cavern floor.
As it hit the ground, the serpent lunged, opening its maw to spray a deluge of
translucent liquid.
Acidic Venom.
Before the spray could touch him, Ronin's hands completed a seal.
Water Style: Water Wall!
A spinning vortex of water erupted, catching the venom and swirling it into the
current. Ronin then reversed the rotation, hurling the diluted acid back at the
serpent.
The snake couldn't dodge its own payload. The liquid washed over its grey
scales, resulting in a chorus of hisses as the acid caused localized chemical
burns.
Ronin didn't give it a chance to recover. As the water wall dissipated, the
Susanoo flared into life. The giant skeletal hand lunged forward, aiming for the
"seven-inch" mark—the snake's vital nerve center.
With the Mystical Palm on standby, Ronin knew he could heal any non-fatal trauma
he inflicted. But first, the beast needed to learn who the Alpha was.
The Susanoo's hand met no resistance. It pinned the serpent's head to the stone
floor with the weight of a falling skyscraper.
The creature thrashed, its tail whipping uselessly against the rock, but its
movements were sluggish as the petrification from the Weighted Boulder spread.
Ronin walked forward, unfurling the scroll.
The blood was the easy part. He could simply soak the paper in the pools forming
around the acid burns. But the Nen? That required a more permanent bridge.
Ronin reached a decision: Fuinjutsu.
He reached out and physically tore a small scale and a scrap of meat from the
serpent's hide. He pressed the bloody sample onto the scroll's centerpiece.
He wove a seal. Four Symbols Seal!
As the formula activated, the flesh and the residual life energy within it were
drawn into the paper. The scroll's texture shifted, the ink beginning to pulse
with a faint, rhythmic blue light.
The link was established.
Ronin bit his own thumb and, with a look of intense expectation, wrote his name
in blood across the contract.
☆☆☆
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